we'll have more at 6:00. >> thanks for joining us. on our broadcast tonight, defiant. vladimir putin hitting back at the u.s. as secretary of state john kerry arrives in kiev. tonight the very latest on a very dicey stand-off. trouble in the air. a record number of passengers hit hard, 80,000 flight cancellations during this winter of our discontent. tonight, as we go inside the faa command center, we'll see the decision making behind it. the price you pay. a stunning new look at the cost of having a baby in america. more expensive than anywhere else in the world. and tonight why there's no rhyme or reason for it. and the surprise salute. a funny thing happened during a race in california. when the runners spotted a reason to stop. "nightly news" begins now.

good evening. vladimir putin says russian troops aren't occupying crimea, they are apparently merely walking the streets and driving in convoys with weapons loaded and drawn. as this very tense ukraine crisis continues, president putin today was defiant. he spoke out today for the first time since the big escalation of this crisis in ukraine. he hit back at the u.s. and to no one's surprise, he said he had no intention of changing his course now. u.s. secretary of state john kerry arrived in kiev today. and listening to the comments from these two men from two different places was indeed like sampling two different worlds. nbc's andrea mitchell is traveling with the secretary of state, who tonight has landed in paris. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this has been a remarkable day. traveling with the secretary of state to kiev. what began as a show of solidarity with the ukrainian

people became so much more, as the impact of what had happened in that square took hold with the secretary of state. at john kerry's first stop, the streets where ukraine's people rose up in the face of live gunfire from their own government, the secretary of state was swept up by the powerful emotion of the place. taking in the barricades of tires and barbed wire where mourners now leave flowers and candles. >> this is so dramatic, this setting, this view of all the flowers, the shrines, it's quite amazing. >> reporter: people crowded around him. one woman said, we are poor, they are rich. referring to the former government leaders who had fled. >> are you going to help us make sure that everything is well done? >> we're going to do our best. >> secretary kerry comes to the shrine to pay tribute to those who are fallen and lend his support, emotional support to ukraine's people and also loan guarantee, $1 billion to help

them withstand the pressure from russia. later at a press conference, kerry was still moved by the heroism of the protesters. >> to see the barricades, the tires, see the barbed wire, see the bullet holes in street lamps. the extraordinary number of flowers. the people still standing beside a barrel with a fire to keep them warm. >> reporter: but earlier, at a check point in crimea, russian forces fired warning shots at ukrainian soldiers protesting the russian occupation. and in his first comments since the crisis, a defiant vladimir putin spent an hour blaming the u.s. for starting the crisis. accusing the u.s. of meddling in ukraine's affairs, reserved the right to use force, and even denied he had operational control of crimea. he denied that there were any russian troops in crimea, occupying crimea. >> he really denied there were troops in crimea? >> yes, he did.

>> i think that it is clear that russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further. >> reporter: in washington, the president tried to give putin a way out. >> there have been some reports that president putin is pausing for a moment and reflecting on what's happened. >> reporter: and now he has come to paris, kerry has. he's left kiev for meetings with the russian foreign minister and allied leaders. and on his plane, brian, he brought with him ukraine's acting foreign minister, who until recently was a protester in the square. the minister told me on the plane that he never thought he would be on the american secretary of state's plane going to paris to try to confront the russians for his people. brian? >> andrea mitchell after a long day of traveling with the u.s. secretary of state, with us tonight from paris. andrea thanks. we are joined once again tonight by the one man who may have the most recent and most valuable

experience on this topic. michael mcfaul, who just days ago departed as u.s. ambassador to russia to return to stanford university. he is among the very best living experts on the region and the country and the president, vladimir putin. we're happy to say, he's also an analyst for us here at nbc news. so mr. ambassador, how strange a feeling for everything you learned and studied about vladimir putin to be coming true right now this kind of slow motion invasion with troops walking the streets, some of them with the safeties off their weapons and fingers on the triggers. there's no joy in the answer, but do you think we're looking at an eventual partitioning of ukraine? >> well, it's most certainly a possibility, there's no doubt about it. if you listen to the president, putin's press conference today, i heard two very distinct contradictory messages. on the one hand he said it was our fault that there was the revolution in kiev, and we need to have a process to bring

a legitimate government to ukraine that he would recognize. and he said he had no intention of annexing crimea. but on the other hand, he said because of the revolution, that was the word he used in kiev, russia is no longer obligated to commit to international treaties and agreements that they signed with the previous ukrainian government. that to me was a threatening signal that there may be more to come. >> and what will the next sign be that you'll be looking for? is there a spot, is there a time line in this? >> what makes me nervous in talking to government officials still in moscow and elsewhere is, they're looking for a pretext about violence. if there's violence out in the eastern parts of ukraine, that will be the trip wire that they say, well we need to go protect our russian citizens. i want to be clear, there's been no violence in crimea. not a single person has been injured there, not a single russian or ukrainian.

but if you do see violence, that would seem to me to be the next escalation moment for vladimir putin. >> former ambassador, now professor these days, michael mcfaull, thank you very much for being with us this evening. we shift focus back here domestically. here in this country, the weather is making news yet again, with more cold. setting more new records in part of the midwest and mid-atlantic. there was icing in the south again today. in arkansas, they called out the national guard to rescue drivers on i-40. the big storm that rolled across the country in recent days caused at least half a dozen deaths. most of them from wrecks on the highway. and this winter has taken an awful record toll on millions of people in this country. not just those in the parts of the country where the weather has been the worst. for starters, it has crushed the flying business. when airlines have to do those big block cancellations, hundreds at a time, it's a lot of numbers. but for each customer, it means some sort of personal disaster of varying degree.

missed meetings, weddings, vacations, funerals, christenings, job interviews, all crushed by that old axiom, a snowstorm beats a jet aircraft every time. tonight we have a look at the toll of this winter thus far. nbc's tom costello is with us for that. hey, tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. 922 flight cancellations today, that's on top of the 5,000 we had on sunday and monday. for airlines and their passengers, this has been a winter of extremes. from the cockpit to the ramp, it's been a season of unrelenting snow and ice. total cost to the airlines, airports and travelers, nearly $6 billion. double the typical winter. >> nearly every flight i've been on, or some segment, has had a delay. >> reporter: at airports nationwide, passengers experiencing delays and cancellations nearly every day. >> my flight was cancelled yesterday, and so i'm flying out today instead. >> those three airways are going

to be closed. they're starting at 16:30. >> reporter: they manage the nation's airspace, who's flying, who's not. which airports are open or closed. on a typical day, this center handles 50 to 55,000 flights. the biggest challenge on a major storm is not necessarily the storm itself, but preparing for the recovery. >> primarily what we're concerned about is making sure that each airport and each airspace around it is able to meet the demand upon it. >> reporter: flightaware.com has reported since november 1st, chicago has suffered the most. 7.5% of all flights cancelled. surprisingly, dallas was second. followed by newark, philly, laguardia and atlanta. >> the airlines are looking at the weather, making these judgment calls way ahead of time when the situation gets risky for them. >> reporter: united is among the airlines taking a more proactive approach. trying to give customers 24 hours notice if their flight is cancelled. >> if we have to make flight cancellations, we want to impact the fewest number of customers possible. and so generally, that leads us to cancel the flights with small airplanes and fewer people on

those airplanes. >> reporter: and that often means smaller regional planes. on the ground it takes nearly as long to service and de-ice a regional jet as a bigger 737. but the 737 carries more passengers going longer distances. now, the airlines are also complaining another factor here, that new faa rules governing how long a pilot can work before he or she has to be off in addition to the rules imposed limiting the amount of time passengers can be stuck out on the ramp, those are also adding to delays and cancellations. finally, because of all the airline mergers, there are fewer planes, fewer seats to help take up all the slack. brian, back to you. >> tom, thank you very much. stay on that side of the tsa line at washington national. this is how it looked today in western new jersey where a huge explosion leveled a townhouse complex. it happened in mercer county near the pennsylvania border as utility crews were trying to repair a gas line that had been damaged previously by a contractor. one resident the of the building was killed.

at least seven other people were injured. amazing it wasn't a higher number. overseas a dramatic day of testimony on day two of the murder trial of oscar pistorius. the former olympic sprinter, double amputee listened as a neighbor gave more testimony about what she heard that night when pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. and for the first time today we heard from the victim's mother. nbc's ayman mohyeldin was in the courtroom again today in pretoria. >> reporter: the heavy rain didn't slow oscar pistorius' dash into court. >> there's no mention about screaming. >> reporter: where today the defense challenged michelle burger, the neighbor who testified she heard screams and gunshots from the direction of pistorius' home. >> you heard that out of a closed toilet and a house 177 meters away. >> reporter: burger, who didn't want to testify on camera, was overwhelmed. >> the shots. >> reporter: it's been a very intense morning, with one of

witnesses at least breaking down in cross-examination. she was wiping away tears while she was being questioned by the defense attorney. throughout the entire morning, oscar pistorius was very engaged, listening intently, taking notes and passing them on to his attorneys. at times he turned away as prosecutors build their case that he deliberately murdered his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. >> i've lost everything important to me. >> reporter: reeva's mother, on "today" this morning, never met pistorius, but she was in court yesterday hoping to look him in the eye. >> he just walked into the courtroom, and he looked straight ahead, and then he sat down and never looked my way. >> reporter: she said she could forgive him. >> it's actually important to forgive him for me, because i don't want to live with bitterness in my life. >> reporter: ebba guony sees oscar pistorius in a different light. she travelled here from iceland to show her support. we spotted her sitting quietly in the courtroom. her son, born with the same

condition as pistorius, is it also a double amputee. she contacted him eight years ago and they became friends. >> he is a wonderful role model. not just because he runs fast. it's because he is a kind person. he is kind, he is polite, he is humble. he's just a very good example of a human being. >> reporter: but with memories of reeva steenkamp still fresh, how the rest of the world sees oscar pistorius will now be shaped in court. ayman mohyeldin nbc news, pretoria, south africa. and still ahead for us tonight, the price you pay. the skyrocketing cost of having a baby in this country, already the highest in the world. tonight why the cost is so unpredictable, and who's paying the most. and later, the amazing scene on the side of the road. a 95-year-old veteran of world war ii, an emotional salute caught on camera.

we are back with more of our

ongoing series of reports. the price you pay. the financial burden of sao many things right now. and tonight, new numbers have come to light, confirming what millions of american parents and families already know. the cost of having a baby in this country is the highest in the world. there's really no telling how much you'll have to pay until you get there. our report tonight from nbc's rehema ellis. >> look, he looks like you. >> reporter: there's a baby born in the united states almost every eight seconds. and trying to figure out the cost of giving birth can rattle your brain. over the last ten years, the average cost of having a baby has increased more than 300%, from an average of $7,700 to $32,000 for a vaginal birth. from about $$11,000 to $51,000 for a c-section. the price varies wildly by hospital and state. maryland has the lowest cost. new jersey the highest. >> there is no rhyme or reason for pricing.

providers in general, not just hospitals, but clinicians, providers are allowed to charge whatever they want based on what they feel like the quality of care they give. >> reporter: because of that, the u.s. has become the most expensive place in the world to have a baby. where every service and every item is added to the bill. and some point to our nation's love of technology as another possible explanation for high prices. >> the first thing you're paying when you walk through the door is all the bells and whistles that are present at this hospital. >> you had already paid for them anyway. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: near phoenix, taylor and madison are still getting bills for delivery of their babies. brooklyn and brantley. were you at all surprised by how expensive it was? >> i knew it was expensive, but i didn't know a whole lot about the exact cost. >> reporter: turns out the sisters went to the same hospital just weeks apart and had similar uncomplicated deliveries. but their bills were not the same. and they don't know why. it cost taylor $22,000. she paid $1,250 out of pocket.

it cost madison $18,000. she paid slightly more than $2,100. what should expecting moms do to control the price you pay? long before you deliver, ask the insurance company what's covered. get estimates from the hospital, find out what you can do without. because little things can add up. infant diapers you might take to the hospital? >> right. >> and you might take formula? >> right. >> useful advice for new moms keeping tabs on costs, without sacrificing care. rehema ellis, nbc news, phoenix, arizona. >> we're back in just a moment with a spectacular force of nature, and what might just be the season's greatest show on earth. ♪

i wish i was made of money. i wish you were too. chances are, you're not made of money. so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico motorcycle. see how much you could save. niagara falls is frozen tonight. second time just this year it has happened. it's no small feat. normally 6 million cubic feet of water flow over the falls every minute. in related weather news, designed to make us feel better, the cherry blossom forecast is out for all those intending to visit our nation's capitol. they are predicted to be at their peak between april 8th and 12th. what could go wrong? don't know exactly what they expected would happen, but the federal government lost out on an estimated $414 million during

that 16-day partial government shutdown. that's just lost revenue from our beautiful national parks, which report 8 million fewer visitors during last october as a result. speaking of the great outdoors, where we are all instructed to leave only our footprints behind. as you may know, trash has become a huge problem on mt. everest of all places. there's something about summiting, apparently, the rarefied air, the sense of accomplishment, the superiority, something about it makes climbers think they don't have to clean up after themselves. the government of nepal is now asking climbers to carry 18 pounds of trash per person down the mountain with them in addition to their own. the mountain peak is strewn with trash, oxygen cylinders, waste of all kinds, use your imagination. in the future, cleaning it will become a condition of climbing it. texans going to the polls today will see a familiar name on the ballot, george bush, actually. in a family that's big on middle initials, we should point out he is george p. bush. grandson of 41, nephew of 43. we first saw him when he was 12

years old, leading the pledge at the '88 convention. all grown up now, he's running for texas land commissioner. the unimpressive title traditionally masks a powerful and visible job in a big state with a lot of land, oil and water issues. the guess is, he could be interested in an even larger and more visible job. throughout new orleans today and tonight, you can hear the annual cry of throw me something, mister, along with some of the best music on the planet. it's mardi gras, fat tuesday, the eve of ash wednesday and the start of lent. and because they don't scare easily down there, a cold rain today did not stop the spirit of laissez les bons temps rouler. when we come back, an old soldier, and the young people who went out of their way to thank him.

finally tonight, as we said, a funny thing said along the route during a race for a good cause in san jose, california. the moment was captured on camera, put out on social media. it shows the instant when a group of runners noticed an older man in uniform who came out to salute their efforts. the runners then saw reason to stop and salute him instead. our report on all of it tonight

from nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: it was a sunday fundraising run benefitting the tillman foundation, named for san jose's pat tillman, a pro football star turned army ranger who gave his all in afghanistan ten years ago. as the runners passed her house, san jose mercury news reporter julia heard a commotion and looked out her window. >> i saw the runners going by, which i was expecting, but then i thought, what are all these people running on the sidewalk for? >> reporter: she soon saw what it was about, her neighbor, joe bell and her cell phone camera caught what was happening. the 95-year-old world war ii veteran had donned his uniform to go outside and cheer on the runners. but when they saw old joe, they moved spontaneously to cheer him. >> thank you for your service. >> thank you. >> reporter: eric whittrick, a stanford student and veteran on a tillman foundation scholarship, reacted instinctively. >> his generation is referred to as the greatest generation and we're just trying to come in

second. >> reporter: as for joe, he's a widower now, has had health issues, including hearing problems he deals with by wearing headphones, and has at times felt his life ebbing away. the surprise salute by all those strangers made him felt thoroughly alive. >> that's a good thing i like to see, is people loving each other. >> reporter: it wasn't just the runners drawn to an old soldier whose story they knew little about, it became did you see that comment on social media? beautiful, heartwarming. now nearly a million views. >> i showed it to my mom and she started tearing up and getting all choked up. i said, hey, maybe a lot of people will want to see this. >> reporter: an old soldier, and an army of young folks inspired by the heroism of a another soldier, meeting for a few memorable minutes to salute each other. mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. >> we like that phrase around here, greatest generation. great story to end on for a tuesday night.

thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. and, of course, we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. right now at 6:00, take a look at this picture. the satellite shows a new storm gathering steam in pacific and promises to bring us more rain. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre a. storm is on the way even as we add up the rain from the last one. we show you pictures of what we got. the left, lexington reservoir. the spillway is empty. on the right, marin county reservoir. you can contrast the two

counties when it comes to rain. jeff ranieri is here now with a closer look at why there is such a big difference. >> we've mainly had this storm track problem the past eight to ten months. the areas of low pressure miss a lot of the south bay. the other problem is when we finally get rainfall in the south bay, what we've been having these problems with is the graphics across the south bay. the rain pushes across the mountains, creates a rain shadow. falls across the mountains and not too much left toward santa clara. all and all we've seen some of the heaviest rainfall no doubt in the north bay. throughout parts of february picking up nearly 15 inches. from 17 to 20 inches, that's our estimate there and the south bay, totals a lot less. you go from los gados and rain showers set up and